Microsoft has announced this morning that the next generation Xbox reveal will be streamed live via the web and the Xbox. The highly anticipated release comes off the back of Sony’s PS4 kind of, half-baked, controller only reveal in February. Microsoft’s reveal really should be the showcasing of all the new hardware including console, controller and perhaps Kinect v2.

As important as the next generation hardware is, just as important is the functionality that we get through updated software. While the interface of the next generation hardware is unlikely to diverge far from the Metro UI that we have now, an impressive development would be an announcement of a real app ecosystem on the console.

Developers like myself would love a third platform in which to distribute applications to. Naturally the app would need to be fit for the platform just like a phone app differs from a desktop app. Developers have been experimenting heavily with Kinect for Windows, but really have no platform for distribution of those apps. If that turns out to be a testing ground for apps developed for the next generation Xbox, Microsoft really will have a platform that has the potential to explode of the coming years.

There’s no doubt this version of the console needs to support 4K, not just to match Sony’s 4K video playback, but if they provided the platform that would support 4K games in the future it really would set the next black box up for another 10 years.

Thanks to the wonders of international time zones, I’ll definitely be up covering the announcement in the early hours of the 22nd of May, what about you Xbox fans ?

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